News

Philly lost one of its strongest voices for visual arts on Tuesday when Inquirer art critic Ed Sozanski passed away suddenly at his Gladwyne home. At age 77, he had been at his post for over thirty years. Stephan Salisbury’s obituary of Sozanski captures the sharp, sanguine way he saw art changing our city.

In the next couple of months, Kelly Kozma is taking off in a big way. She’s now represented by Paradigm Gallery & Studio, whose co-founders, Sara McCorriston & Jason Chen, are moving to a new space on the NW corner of 4th & Fitzwater. To herald their coming and raise money for the space, Paradigm is launching a line of artist designed garments. Two of those delightful designs were contributed by Kelly, who is also the first solo show opening in their new space. The show runs from May 17-June 21, with an opening reception on May 23. And, if that didn’t already seem like a whirlwind of activity, you can find Kelly at this year’s Art Star Craft Bazaar on May 10-11 at Penns Landing, taking a breezy break from her recently-established artist studio in a side room of the Art Star space.

Congratulations to Fleisher Art Memorial on a bigtime victory: they’re one of 886 US nonprofits to receive an Art Works grant from the NEA! Their $20,000 prize is going towards the 2015 Wind Challenge Exhibition series, one of Philly’s favorite juried events, and a can’t-miss destination for us every year. Wind Challenge 3 brings us new work by Maggie Mills, Leslie Friedman, and Kate Parry, all on view through May 10.

The wonderful Jody Pinto, PAFA art professor, is the keynote speaker at the Association for Public Art’s upcoming annual meeting at the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Artists can register and attend for free, so get to signing up ASAP! The event is Monday, May 12, 2014 at 5:00 PM in the Van Pelt Auditorium, with a reception to follow. In the meantime, for your enrichment, here is Pinto’s “Fingerspan” presented by Museum Without Walls’ AUDIO Program.

Opportunities

2 from Vox Populi – 1. Gallery and AUX Performance Space are on the lookout for a new writer/curator/artist for an ambitious independent series. With a two-month period of research for the successful candidate (in collaboration with the Events and Performance Coordinator), the two months of programming and lecturing to follow are designed to mesh the curator with staff, board, and outside consultants alike. The position comes with room and board for non-Philadelphia based curators, and a $2000 research and lecture honorarium awarded at the beginning of the fellowship, with additional funds available for artist transportation and accommodation. It’s crucial that candidates either live in or commit to regularly commuting to Philadelphia for four months during the research and programming periods. Two fellows are selected in the first in this round of interviews; the first researches in July and August and programs in September and October, the second researches in September and October and programs in November and December. To apply, please send your resume, cover letter, two writing samples and/or curatorial samples with accompanying exhibition materials/statements, and an optional 5 minutes of video or 10 still documentation photographs to Brian Fraser, Events and Performance Coordinator, at events@voxpopuligallery.org.  2. The open call for VOX X: Present Tense, scheduled for July 11- August 1 is ready for takers. Juried by Howie Chen and Matthew Brannon, the deadline for submissions is May 15, 2014. To apply, download a prospectus here and the application on SlideRoom here. Applicants may submit up to five works in any media, and the application fee is $35.

Postgreen Homes is offering a sweet perk to Philly’s senior and junior art students for May’s First Friday: a free First Friday Gallery Space, where you can display your work to the Fishtown crowd at the neighborhood green homes builder’s 2032-2034 Frankford Ave locale. As is Fishtown’s wont, the event comes with a bicycling side: it’s officially called “Tune up & Talent” for the local bike organizations planning to gather there to offer free bike tune ups and maintenance advice for art-goers. While only open to seniors and juniors only, all themes and media are welcome. If you’re interested, please send your JPEGs and reasonably-sized PDFs to Yana Tukvachinski (yana.tukvachinski@gmail.com) by April 23 (tomorrow!) And if you’d rather spectate, come by on May 2 with your bike old bike, check out the artwork and drink the night away (safely, of course).

Artist News

It wouldn’t feel quite like 100% springtime without an Ann-Marie LeQuesne participatory gathering, and it seems that time has come for 2014. This time, she’s invited you (i.e. the world) to come to the New York City Post Office steps at 33rd St. and 8th Ave. on Saturday May 3 at 2pm. There, participants are going to act out the role of – naturally – a person going to the Post Office. Possible roles Ann-Marie has put out include:

 Waiting for a friend – looking around; he/she is late.

Sitting talking on the steps with a friend.

Exiting from the building carrying a large box.

Emerging from between the pillars and walking down the steps;

Taking a photo of a friend posing on the steps.

Asking for and receiving directions.

Walking directly in front of the camera and going up the steps.

Walking directly in front of the camera coming down the steps.

Sleeping on the steps.

This performance, plus a selection of Ann-Marie’s latest work, is going on display at AC Institute, opening on May 29.

ICON Contemporary Art in Brunswick, Maine, is hosting two of our longtime favorites, Anne Minich and Anda Dubinskis with “Drawings,” on Saturday, April 26, from 4-6 pm. Together and separately, Anne’s and Anda’s works are sultry, unsettling and playful.
In case you missed it…

Jennifer learned about Sarah Van Keuren’s alchemical leanings. 

Andrea’s pilgrimage to Donald Judd’s Marfa paid off.

Florence wished that Gross McLeaf’s works-on-paper show had strayed farther outside the lines.